Nanfu Wang

Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award

Nanfu Wang, director of Hooligan Sparrow, will receive the IDA’s Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award. Originally from a remote village in China, Wang overcame poverty and lack of access to formal secondary education. Her work often features the stories of marginalized or mistreated people, from Chinese blood donors stricken with HIV from used government-issued needles to the left-behind children of migrant laborers. Wang’s short films have been distributed on many platforms and translated into several languages. Wang is a recipient of a Sundance postproduction grant, support from Bertha Britdoc Journalism Fund, and has been a Sundance Documentary Fellow and IFP supported filmmaker. Her feature debut Hooligan Sparrow has so far received support from Sundance Institute, IFP, IDA, and BRITDOC. Nanfu Wang holds three master’s degrees from Shanghai University, Ohio University, and New York University in English Literature, Media Studies, and Documentary respectively.